New Poll: Government Shutdown Hurting Senate Republicans Up for Reelection in 2020

Voters would also oppose President Trump declaring a “National Emergency” to fund wall

Washington, DC – New polling from Public Policy Polling (PPP), commissioned by MoveOn and the Immigration Hub, shows the government shutdown demanded by President Donald Trump and supported by Congressional Republicans is hurting Senate Republicans up for reelection in 2020. The polls, which were conducted in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Maine, Alaska, Georgia, and North Carolina, show that across the board, voters oppose Trump’s and the Republicans’ wall and want Congress to vote to re-open the government without any funding for the wall.

The polls also showed that sticking with President Trump on the shutdown makes voters less likely to vote for the GOP Senators in 2020.

Additionally, voters polled in Iowa, Maine, and North Carolina were also asked if they would oppose a plan to declare a national emergency to build the wall by diverting funds from other government agencies. Voters in the three states overwhelmingly opposed the plan.

Topline findings:

Majority of voters surveyed in the seven states do not agree with President Trump that the government should be kept closed until he gets funding for the wall.

Majority of voters in the seven states oppose President Trump’s demand that Congress spend billions in taxpayer dollars to build a wall along the southern border.

Majority of voters surveyed said they would be less likely to support their Republican Senator in the next elections because of their support of President Trump’s plan to keep the government closed for funding for a border wall.

Majority of voters surveyed in three states said they oppose any plan to declare a national emergency to build the wall.

State-by-state breakdown:

Do you agree or disagree with President Trump that the government should be kept closed until he gets funding for the wall?

Alaska: 41% agree; 55% disagree

Arizona: 40% agree; 55% disagree

Colorado: 38% agree; 58% disagree

Georgia: 41% agree; 55% disagree

Iowa: 39% agree; 56% disagree

Maine: 33% agree; 63% disagree

North Carolina: 39% agree; 57% disagree

Do you support or oppose President Trump’s demand that Congress spend billions in taxpayer dollars to build a wall along the southern border?

Alaska: 47% support; 51% oppose

Arizona: 44% support; 54% oppose

Colorado: 42% support; 56% oppose

Georgia: 48% support; 48% oppose

Iowa: 45% support; 51% oppose

Maine: 40% support; 57% oppose

North Carolina: 48% support; 51% oppose

Does (your Republican Senator’s) support of President Trump’s plan to keep the government closed if he doesn’t get funding for a border wall make you more or less likely to support her/him in his next election, or does it not make a difference?

Alaska (Sen. Sullivan): 41% more likely; 50% less likely

Arizona (Sen. McSally): 37% more likely; 50% less likely

Colorado (Sen. Gardner): 37% more likely; 49% less likely

Georgia: 41% more likely; 51% less likely

Iowa (Sen. Ersnt): 37% more likely; 49% less likely

Maine (Sen. Collins): 32% more likely; 53% less likely

North Carolina (Sen. Tillis): 42% more likely; 48% less likely

Would you support or oppose an unprecedented plan to declare a national emergency that would give President Trump unilateral power to divert funds from other departments, like the Department of Defense, to build his wall?**

Iowa: 36% support; 57% oppose

Maine: 33% support; 62% oppose

North Carolina: 39% support; 55% oppose

**This question was added after polls in AK, AZ, CO, GA were already in the field which is why results for those states do not exist.

“Voters in these key states, like voters across the country, reject Donald Trump’s wall and want the government to re-open immediately,” said Emma Einhorn from MoveOn. “These polls should be a clear sign to these Republican Senators that if they continue to walk the plank for Donald Trump and his deeply unpopular policies, they put their re-elections at risk. The message is clear: re-open the government now without funding the wall and end this outrageous exercise.”

“The 2018 elections clearly showed that Trumps immigration fear-mongering backfired and cost them the House and races across the country,” said Tyler Moran from the Immigration Hub. “Now Trump has backed himself into a corner with a shutdown that polling shows he is overwhelmingly blamed for. If Republicans don’t break with him now, the 2020 results are going to look a lot like 2018.”